Tuesday, June 9, 2009

My dolls in Haute Couture: a photoshoot for Grazia India magazine!

A while ago the editor of Grazia India, Nadnini Bhalla contacted me about doing a photoshoot with my fashion dolls for the magazine, with them wearing miniature outfits created by Indian fashion designers. She said she loved my Vogue mock up covers and wanted to make something in that context for the photoshoot. Of course I agreed and started planning the whole thing. After a while, the outfists arrived. Opening the garment bag of each one was a surprise: the worksmanship was incredible. The designers, with only a basic pattern to help them had made miniature miracles. Some of the outfits had miniscule accessories with them, which made them even more incredible.

Turmeric sequin ball gown and gloves, Lecoanet Hemant

Not all the outfits were made in the exact doll sizes I had provided. Some were too big or too small to fit on either 12" dolls or 16" dolls. But with the help of pins and proper posing, all of them were finally photographed by me with my dolls wearing them. From a huge number of photos, I picked soem and sent them over to have the magazine editors finalize the selection and layout. When this was done, it was ready for printing. The issue was out in May and it was a huge 12-page spread exclusive. I am publishing the results here and hope you like them! In future posts, I will feature each and every dress seperately, with facts about the designer, the specific dress and also photos of the original outfit on the runway. Enjoy!

I would also like to thanks Nandini Bhalla (senior editor), Nidhi Jacob (editor) and Rajni Phatak (accounts) for their incredible help and collaboration and coordination of this dream project! Grazia India is in great hands!

The shoot was also published in an indian blog about fashion, High Heel Confidential. The photos below of the magazine pages scanned are from that blog as I still have not received the magazine to scan them myself.

All photographs for Grazia are not to be published in any other form, in print or electronically without permission from the magazine and me. Photos published by special permission of Grazia Magazine.

27 comments:

Stratos...this stuff is amazing. You are so lucky (and talented) to have been offered this opportunity to play with and photograph such wonderful fashions. Was this a contest? What type of magazine is Grazia? I'd love to get a hard copy of the magazine.Terri

@ Terri-thanks for your kind words and compliments! No it was not a contest, they found my blog, saw my Vogue cover mock ups and decided to work with me. Grazia is a fashion magazine based in Italy and has editions all over the world - in India it belongs to the Hearst - Time corporation. I think you can find copies of it on eBay.

Absolutely stunning! How exciting to be able to do something like this with a magazine and these very talented designers. A once in a lifetime experience!! Thank you for sharing this with us. Is there any way I can get a copy of the magazine? Is it published internationally? romitazz@shaw.ca

@ Rosemarie - thank you! Not published internationally but you can probably find it on eBay.

@Ghost Vader: thank you very much!

@kip: Thanks! :-)

@Elias: thank you so much! Actually designers did show on dolls both in the 19th century (and before that fashion travelled round Europe with dolls) and again after WWII in France with the Theatre De La Mode.

i am so inlove with the concept of dolls having to model couture peices such as this....check out my blog:http://preppygoesrock.blogspot.com/http://preppygoesrock.blogspot.com/http://preppygoesrock.blogspot.com/

Certainly some of the clothes (and accessories) were from lovely to awsome - especially considering the size they were made in! What craftsmanship! BUT YOU, my friend, did an excellent job overall. The styling on those dolls was so well matched to the outfits and in most cases you really showcased the clothes through posture and hair/make-up. Standing ovation (for both you and designers), esp. #1,4,5,7,10,11. My daughter loved it too! Very inspiring!Tiana

My dolls on Instagram

Tonner Doll Duels

About Me

I am a designer, working in an architectural firm. We design and construct stands for exhibitions, museums (permanent and temporary exhibitions as well as the buildings themselves), offices, shops, showrooms and special installations as well as public spaces. The company I work for has a website, www.tetragon.gr , where you can see more of the work we do. I have also studied fashion design and as a civil engineer for some years - but I never got around getting my degree. The world of design was much more appealing to me and finally won me over completely. I really enjoy doing what I do! I live and work in Thessaloniki, although my job has taken me to many places, in Greece and abroad. I enjoy meeting people, getting to know them and learn from them - it makes life so much more interesting!